When I finally came back to my senses, I realized that everything was just as Ashton had said—there was no small fry in the Hall family.
Nathaniel disregarded Armond, who was still on the floor, and wore a smile as he turned toward us. “Let’s head over to our next stop.”
He walked past Armond and headed toward the door casually as if nothing had happened. His indifferent behavior unsettled me.
Ashton looked at Nathaniel’s back quietly before he took my hand in his and followed after his brother.
Crash!
“You’ll regret this, Nathaniel Hall!”
A loud noise of shattering glasses reached my ears right after we went out of the room. I jumped at the noise and looked back at the mechanical door nervously as a bad feeling ate me up from the inside.
“Don’t worry, Scarlett.” Nathaniel’s voice pulled me back to reality. He still had that calm and reliable look on his face. “He’s just a nobody. I’ll take care of him,” he assured.
After the elevator door opened, Nathaniel led the way and went out. I caught a glimpse of his gaze as he walked out, and a wave of suspicion crept into my heart.
When Ashton saw how I was refusing to move, he patted me gently on my back. “Don’t worry, Nathaniel will make sure everything is okay,” he said softly.
I met Ashton’s determined gaze before I looked at the enigmatic man waiting for us outside the elevator. This was the first time I felt so unsure ever since I set foot on the island.
Will anything happen to us? Will our children be safe? We’re surrounded by the Halls, and Armond is after us. Will everything be okay?
“Ashton’s right,” Nathaniel tried convincing me to step out. “Both of you can trust me.”
He sounded genuine and honest, and he looked so too. If I had not seen with my own eyes how he took Armond down single-handedly, I would have been deceived by his looks.
The pressure from Ashton’s hand intensified on my shoulder. He was asking me to get my act together so Nathaniel would not suspect that we had already seen right through him.
I forced a smile on my face. “Of course. You’re the only person we can trust.”
Nathaniel and I nodded at each other, and I went out with Ashton holding my hand. We continued our visit looking at the research projects undertaken by the family.
After the confrontation in the morning, everyone seemed to be distracted. We took a cursory look at the facilities and had some casual exchanges before finding any excuse to leave.
I was worried about the children, so Ashton and I headed back to the castle the moment we could.
Before we arrived at the nursery, we heard someone arguing.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have already insisted that no one other than our own nanny can touch the kids.”
“I understand, but I’m a certified nanny who has been working for the Hall family for many years. The children are almost one! You should really leave things to the professional. I’m not here to harm the children, I’m only here to make some assessments.”
“No, we’re good. We’ll take care of the babies ourselves.”
Joseph was arguing with the nanny Nicolas had assigned for the children. They were speaking in Ustranasion, and the negotiation was done cordially.
I stood at the door for a second, thinking about what I should do to turn down Nicolas’ offer, but Ashton barged right in.
“Get out,” he ordered. The whole room fell into dead silence at his sudden appearance.
The nanny Nicolas hired was a Chanaean woman. Despite her perfect skin and well-kept body figure, her eyes betrayed her age. Her dyed hair and colored contact lenses could easily make anyone mistake her for a local from M Country, but under a closer look, her skin tone said she was from Aploth.
The woman was taken aback by Ashton’s commanding tone, but she quickly recollected herself and tried negotiating again.
